APPLICATION TO SSHRC FOR A RENEWAL GRANT. for the

(1)

APPLICATION TO SSHRC

FOR A RENEWAL GRANT

for the

PRAIRIE METROPOLIS CENTRE:

A Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration, Integration, and Diversity

Submitted by The University of Alberta

On behalf of the

Consortium of Prairie Universities

University of Alberta, University of Calgary University of Manitoba, University of Regina University of Saskatchewan, University of Winnipeg

(2)

Letter of Support from the University of Alberta

NOT AVAILABLE ON-LINE

(4)

University of Alberta SSHRC Signature Page

NOT AVAILABLE ON-LINE

(5)

University President Signatures’ Page

Name of the Proposed Centre:

Prairie Metropolis Centre

Signature of the Principal Applicant:

Linda Ogilvie, University of Alberta

(Name & University) (Signature) (Date)

Signatures of the Co-Directors of the Centre:

Tracey Derwing, University of Alberta

Names and Signatures of the Presidents of the Consortium of Prairie Universities:

Indira Samarasekera, University of Alberta

Harvey Weingarten, University of Calgary

Emõke Szathmãry, University of Manitoba

R. J. Tomkins, University of Regina

Peter MacKinnon, University of Saskatchewan

Lloyd Axworthy, University of Winnipeg

(6)

Vice Presidents Research of Collaborating Universities Signatures’ Page

All co-directors and the collaborating institutions hereby acknowledge receipt of a copy of the annexes pertaining to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada for the third phase of the Metropolis Project and the application instructions.

Centre’s Name: Prairie Metropolis Centre

Administering Organization: University of Alberta

Organization Contact Person: Dr. Linda Ogilvie

Names and coordinates of the Centre’s co-directors: Name: Dr.Linda Ogilvie

Address: 4-116 Education Centre, North University of Alberta

Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5

Tel: (780) 492-0898

Email: [email protected] Fax: (780) 492-2594

Name: Dr.Tracey M. Derwing

Address: 4-116 Education Centre, North University of Alberta

Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5

Tel: (780) 492-4444

Email: [email protected] Fax: (780) 492-2594

Signatures of the Centre’s co-directors:

Dr. Linda Ogilvie, University of Alberta

(Name & University) (Signature) (Date) Dr. Tracey M. Derwing, University of Alberta

Signatures of the Vice-presidents of Research of Collaborating Universities:

Dr. R. Gary Kachanoski, University of Alberta

Dr. Dennis Salahub, University of Calgary

(Name & University) (Signature) (Date) Dr. Joanne C. Keselman, University of Manitoba

(Name & University) (Signature) (Date) Dr. David Gauthier, University of Regina

(Name & University) (Signature) (Date) Dr. Steven Franklin, University of Saskatchewan

(Name & University) (Signature) (Date) Dr. Claudia Wright, University of Winnipeg

(7)

Co-Applicant Signatures’ Page

Name of the Proposed Centre:

Prairie Metropolis Centre

Signature of the Principal Applicant:

Signatures of Co-Applicants:

Tracey Derwing, University of Alberta

James Frideres, University of Calgary

Wayne Simpson, University of Manitoba

Doug Durst, University of Regina

Terry Wotherspoon, University of Saskatchewan

Paul Bramadat, University of Winnipeg

(8)

Research Team

The research team is comprised of the Principal Applicant and six Co-Applicants, plus 116 affiliated

researchers drawn largely from the Consortium of Prairie Universities. Appendix 2 contains the Curriculum Vitae of the Principal Applicant and the Co-Applicants. Appendix 4 contains a list of presently affiliated researchers. The Principal Applicant is in the process of contacting these researchers to determine whether they would like to continue their affiliation with the Centre into the third phase of Metropolis. It is

anticipated that the list will be finalized within the next few months.

Affiliated researchers from the six prairie universities are experienced investigators representing virtually all the social science disciplines, with some from the humanities and health sciences as well. Although the number of collaborating affiliated researchers is large and all of them are committed to advancing the Centre’s objectives, they will be variably involved in small-scale and large-scale projects for shorter or longer periods of time. The important point is that the Centre will have a large pool of outstanding academic researchers on which to draw for its research program.

The following is a brief statement about the Principal Applicant and Co-Applicants who will play an important role within the Prairie Metropolis Centre.

Principal Applicant: Linda Ogilvie. Co-Director of the Prairie Centre, Dr. Ogilvie's current research focuses on the health and well-being of newcomer children and their families, but her research interests also include issues related to the licensure and integration into the workplace of internationally educated nurses. She will help coordinate the University of Alberta research teams and the Centre's research program. Co-Applicant: Tracey Derwing. Co-Director of the Prairie Centre, Dr. Derwing’s current research

activities include a study of the English phonological and fluency development in selected immigrant groups; refugee settlement; and immigrant high school completion rates. She will help coordinate the University of Alberta research teams and the Centre’s research program.

Co-Applicant: Paul Bramadat. Dr. Bramadat’s areas of teaching and research expertise include religion and ethnicity in Canada, religion and public policy in Canada, and fundamentalism(s) in the international arena. He will coordinate the research team at the University of Winnipeg.

Co-Applicant: Douglas Durst. Dr. Durst is a Professor of Social Work at the University of Regina. His research interests include immigrants and aging, disabilities among minorities, and Aboriginal governance in NGOs and social agencies. He will coordinate the research team at the University of Regina.

Co-Applicant: James Frideres. A leading expert in ethnic relations, Dr. Frideres’ research focuses on the integration of Aboriginal Peoples into Canadian society, as well as on issues of immigrant integration— notably the integration of immigrant youth into the labour market. He will coordinate the research team at the University of Calgary.

Co-Applicant: Wayne Simpson. Dr. Simpson is Professor and Head of the Department of Economics, University of Manitoba. He is a specialist in labour economics, quantitative methods and social policy, and has worked for the Bank of Canada and Economic Council of Canada. Together with Derek Hum, he has conducted research on the economic wellbeing of immigrants. He will coordinate the research team at the University of Manitoba.

Co-Applicant: Terry Wotherspoon. Dr. Wotherspoon’s areas of research interest include, among others, formal education, informal learning, and labour market integration among immigrant and Aboriginal populations in Canada. He will coordinate the research team at the University of Saskatchewan.

(9)

Summary of Proposed Research

In 2007, the Prairie Centre will take a new name, The Prairie Metropolis Centre (PMC), to reflect the ties with the Metropolis Project as we move into Phase Three. The PMC, a consortium of six prairie universities, with 116 research affiliates, is dedicated to conducting policy-relevant research on immigration, integration and diversity that will inform policy-makers, immigrant-serving organizations, and several academic disciplines simultaneously. Together with our colleagues in the other Metropolis Centres, we seek to contribute to the betterment of conditions for the integration of newcomers to Canada and to the appreciation of diversity within Canadian society by conducting comparative studies at both national and international levels. Our focus will be threefold: first, putting together research teams to address the priorities identified by our funders; second, conducting solid, reliable studies that can inform policy; and third, engaging in knowledge mobilization activities that will ensure an uptake of research findings.

In Phase Three, the PMC will have five formal domains: Citizenship and Social, Cultural and Civic Integration; Economic and Labour Market Integration; Family, Children and Youth; Housing and Neighbourhoods; and Welcoming Communities: The Role of Host Communities in Attracting,

Integrating, and Retaining Newcomers and Minorities. In addition, some of our research affiliates may choose to work with colleagues in other centres in the Justice, Policing, and Security domain. Our researchers come from a variety of fields, including Sociology, Psychology, Social Work, Economics, Political Science, Education, Nursing, Community Health Sciences, and Religious Studies.

Individually and in interdisciplinary teams, our academics will deal with issues such as the role of social capital in the overall integration of newcomers. Which types of social capital impede

integration and which facilitate access to opportunities? What strategies are successful in building social capital that will help immigrants to overcome economic, social and political barriers? Related to notions of social capital are considerations of citizenship. What does Canadian citizenship mean to immigrant groups? What is the impact of current citizenship policy on immigrants in terms of their transnational identities and their sense of belonging in Canada? What happens to feelings of attachment and belonging to Canada under conditions of transnationalism and multiculturalism?

Our researchers will be examining the situation of immigrant youth from several standpoints. In particular, how will the poor achievement of many immigrant youth observed in previous Metropolis research be addressed? That is, what strategies are necessary to ensure that all immigrant children and youth have the opportunity to succeed in school? What is the role of immigrant youth in criminal involvement? To what degree are young immigrants becoming discouraged and disaffected? These issues will be addressed by educators, sociologists, and by the New Canadian Children and Youth Study team, who will continue to conduct pan-Canadian, longitudinal, quantitative and qualitative studies of mental and physical health and the factors that contribute to each. Economists will be examining the relationship between immigrant health status and economic performance, as well as immigrant poverty levels.

A real strength in earlier phases of the PMC has been work on the attraction and retention of newcomers to smaller communities. This work will be extended in Phase Three, especially in the domains of Welcoming Communities and Neighbourhoods and Housing. The issue of community readiness will be examined from many angles, including housing possibilities, host attitudes, employment opportunities and availability of appropriate services.

There are many more research projects that will be carried out in Phase Three, which we cannot go into here, but in collaboration with the Domain Leaders we will make a significant effort to weave the findings into a coherent whole. More resources will be put into synthesizing and disseminating research results to ensure that they get into the hands of the people who can make the best use of them: representatives of federal, provincial and municipal governments; immigrant-serving agencies; ethno-cultural groups, and members of the general public.

(10)

- (1) -

Detailed Description

I. Partnerships & Governance

The Prairie Metropolis Centre (PMC) is a Consortium of six universities: The University of Alberta, The University of Calgary, The University of Manitoba, The University of Regina, The University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Winnipeg, with the Administrative Centre located at the University of Alberta. The University of Alberta has committed substantial financial and

infrastructure support for the Centre during Phase Three. Partners include policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, and the Metropolis Centres. These are the broad groupings of stakeholders with whom our partnerships and collaborations have increased over the years. The relationships with each of these groupings will expand and deepen in the third phase of Metropolis. Relationships with Policy-Makers

During the renewal period, meetings and collaborations with policy-makers will strengthen successful practices and chart new directions. Methods of collaboration include the following: 1. Partnerships on jointly sponsored policy-oriented research projects with federal partners and

other stakeholders. Joint research initiatives were fruitful in the past and will be strengthened by closer collaboration with Director General-level federal partners through participation in the National Metropolis Committee (NMC). Furthermore, indications are that provincial and municipal policy-makers will be more engaged with the PMC in Phase Three.

2. Contacts with federal partners and policy-makers in the context of Annual Policy Research Symposia; National and International Conferences; Research Domain Meetings; Priority Leader reports and participation in the NMC; periodic Metropolis “inter-conference” seminars,

“roundtable” discussions organized by federal partners or Metropolis Centres, Ottawa-based brown bag presentations and policy-area seminars; dialogues regarding annual reports, research reports, research summaries, policy briefs, working papers, research syntheses; and/or

WebBoard conferences on the Metropolis website.

3. A mechanism through the Joint Metropolis Secretariat-SSHRC/Centres Directors Committee (Joint Committee) for information exchange; strategic planning for Metropolis as a whole; coordination and joint planning across centres, SSHRC, and the Metropolis Secretariat; and, implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

4. Possibilities for Domain Leader and Priority Leader observer status at Metropolis

Interdepartmental Committee (IDC) meetings. As the primary information exchange and knowledge transfer mechanism for communication to a broad cross-section of federal officials about project activities and developments during Phase Three, the IDC has a critical role and could provide excellent networking and learning opportunities for domain and priority leaders. 5. Consultations with policy-makers or policy analysts on research projects as appropriate.

(11)

- (2) -

6. Memberships on advisory boards, committees, or councils established by the Centre’s federal partners at the regional or national level.

7. Federal partner and provincial policy-maker representation on the Centre’s management boards. Relationships with the Non-governmental Sector

The links between the PMC and the non-governmental sector, such as non-governmental

organizations (NGOs), other service providers, and ethno-community groups, will continue to be prairie-wide and extensive. As with policy-makers, meetings and collaborations with NGOs will not only continue practices of proven value, but will also chart new directions (a list of partnering organizations and community contacts appears in Appendix 5; letters of support are in Appendix 1). Methods of collaboration include the following:

1. Providing information, research support, and community-based research grants to community partners, to the limits of existing resources.

2. Requiring grant applicants, where appropriate, to consult with community groups before applying for funds.

3. Providing travel grants to representatives of NGOs to attend the Centre’s Annual Policy Research Symposia and National Metropolis Conferences.

4. Participating in conferences and other events organized by NGOs.

5. Offering NGOs a direct voice in the form of membership and voting rights on the Prairie Metropolis Centre’s Board of Governors and the Adjudication Committee.

6. Supplying NGOs with student volunteers under the Centre’s Volunteer Internship Program. 7. Involving NGOs and community groups in research projects, where appropriate.

8. Responding to NGO and community group priorities that fit within the Metropolis mandate. 9. Participation of affiliated academic researchers on the boards of NGOs.

Relationships with Other Metropolis Centres

The terms of renewal for Metropolis highlight the need for the five Metropolis Centres to work more closely together on pan-Canadian projects. The PMC welcomes such collaboration. The PMC will continue to work on existing collaborative projects with researchers from other Metropolis Centres. While initiatives of previous phases of Metropolis, such as the Metropolis Educational Research Forum (MERF), the Citizenship Education Research Network (CERN), and the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS), were institutionalized under the Education and Health Domains, which no longer exist in Phase Three of the PMC, they are easily subsumed under other domains mandated in the MOU. That these collaborative initiatives still fit with Phase Three priorities speaks both to their worth and their interdisciplinary strengths.

Another vehicle for cooperation at the national level is the Prairie Metropolis Centre’s Data Committee whose goal is to facilitate the sharing of data among Metropolis researchers not only in

(12)

- (3) -

the prairies, but nationally. This committee, which will continue to exist, works closely with the other Centres and with the Metropolis National Data Committee.

The Journal of International Migration and Integration (JIMI) provides many opportunities for cooperation among the Metropolis Centres and their respective researchers. Also, apart from its role in dissemination, JIMI provides for international cooperation and for the development of international linkages. Representatives of the five Metropolis Centres serve on JIMI’s Board of Directors and Board of Associate Editors and this association will continue. Special issues of JIMI devoted to priority topics could be used to enhance cross-Centre collaboration and leverage funding from regional, national, and international sources during the third phase of Metropolis.

In Phase Three, a determined effort will be made to reinforce existing collaborative

arrangements and expand such relationships both in scope and depth. Organizational requirements outlined in the MOU support stronger relationships with other Metropolis Centres and with the Metropolis Secretariat. For example,

1. The requirement that at least three Centres apply for the funds allocated through the NMC in an annual competition for priority projects will enhance cross-Centre collaboration.

2. The creation of Priority Leader positions for each research priority area will ensure cross-Centre communication for the purposes of research dissemination and reinforce existing mechanism for synthesis of Metropolis research.

3. Availability of funds for specific projects such as meta-analyses of cross-Centre research proposed by Domain Leaders will foster communication and joint research initiatives. 4. Domain Leaders will be asked to develop research plans and strategies for enhancing

cross-Centre (and in the case of the PMC, cross-node and cross-domain) research.

5. Domain Leaders’ meetings and contacts with stakeholders will take place in the context of Annual Domain Research Seminars, Annual Policy Research Symposia, National and

International Metropolis Conferences, and, in the case of the PMC, Domain Leaders’ regional meetings, in order to encourage cross-node research in the prairies. In Phase Two, cross-node research was particularly successful in the Economic, Education, and Health Domains. Specific research priorities and time lines will be established as we enter the renewal phase and begin to network more intensively with each other.

International Linkages

Perhaps the most outstanding project involving international linkages is the publication of the Journal of International Migration and Integration (JIMI), which began in 2000. JIMI’s Board of Directors and Board of Associate Editors are truly international. Beyond research dissemination, JIMI provides opportunities for comparative international research in Metropolis mandated areas.

In this new phase, PMC will continue to play an active role at international Metropolis conferences and seminars. Specifically, centre researchers will be encouraged to organize

workshops and seminars, present papers, serve as commentators, and engage in scholarly exchanges with researchers from other countries. As stated in the MOU, a Centre Co-Director will attend each International Metropolis Conference. When it is our turn, a Centre Co-Director will serve on the International Steering Committee of Metropolis to further strengthen our international networks.

(13)

- (4) -

These activities promise to enrich the Centre’s research program by providing a springboard for involvement in international comparative research.

The Annual Progress Reports for the PMC document the many linkages that Centre researchers have established internationally. Most recent have been the participation of Drs. Tom Carter and Tracey Derwing in a comparative workshop in Melbourne, Australia in early 2007. Dr. Carter has an ongoing research alliance with the Monash Centre for the Study of Global Movements at Monash University in Australia. Dr. Linda Ogilvie participated in a Canada-Portugal Roundtable on Best Practices for Achieving Integration of Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities held in Lisbon in October 2006. Other Prairie Metropolis Centre researchers have established research links with colleagues at research centres in France, Germany, India, Russia, South Africa, the United Nations Development Program, and the United States.

A collaborative partnership between the PMC and the Centre for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS) at the University of California in San Diego opens possibilities for comparative research and other activities such as joint seminars, workshops, and exchange programs. In a similar vein, Prairie Metropolis Centre researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are working actively with the University of Saskatchewan International, an office dedicated to the advancement of linkages and provision of support for international research and programming initiatives. Also, University of Calgary researchers have strong links with colleagues at the University of Chemnitz, the University of Michigan, and Bergen University, Norway. Dr. Hugh Grant, a University of Winnipeg researcher, regularly conducts research with Dr. M.A.B. Siddique, Professor of

Economics and Director of the Centre for Migration and Development Studies at the University of Western Australia. In our initial meetings with Domain Leaders, at the Annual Policy Research Symposium, and in a general information letter to our affiliates, we will stress the importance of increasing our international comparative research capacity.

Governance: Management Structures and Consortium Arrangements

In Phase Three, the PMC will combine the success of the Phase Two governance structures, new requirements in the MOU, and increasing interest in Metropolis by provincial policy-makers. There will be a mix of continuing and new persons in governance positions. Names and SSHRC CVs for personnel involved in the governance structures of the Prairie Metropolis Centre can be found in Appendix 2. The terms of reference and names and affiliations of PMC committee members for the Adjudication Committee, the Domain Research Committee, the Data Committee, the Board of Governors, and the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors the can be found in Appendix 6.

A summary of the governance structures follows:

1. The day-to-day operations of the Centre will be managed jointly and equally by two Co-Directors (Dr. Tracey Derwing and Dr. Linda Ogilvie; while Dr. Derwing is on sabbatical in 2007-08, Dr. Anna Kirova will be Acting Co-Director). The Co-Directors, who report to the Board of Governors, are responsible for the scholarly direction and overall leadership of the Centre and are approved by the Board of Governors. Centre Co-Directors will comply with responsibilities for their representation at Metropolis Conferences, NMC meetings, bi-annual Joint Metropolis Secretariat – SSHRC/Centre Directors Committee meetings, and IDC meetings. Teaching release for two 3-credit courses per year has been secured from the University of Alberta for each Co-Director.

(14)

- (5) -

2. The Internal Agreement, which governs the operations of the Centre, was revised in 2002. At this time it was upgraded and harmonized with the expectations associated with the Phase Two of Metropolis. Minor revisions needed to harmonize the Agreement with the MOU for Phase Three have been drafted (see Appendix 3) and will be reviewed at a Board of Governors meeting before seeking ratification from the Presidents of participating universities. The Phase Two Chair of the Board of Governors, Dr. Tom Carter, will continue until this next meeting, at which time a new Chair will be selected.

3. The Board of Governors has overall responsibility for the direction of the Centre and is

accountable to the funders through the Presidents of the participating universities. At the start of the renewal period, the Board of Governors will include the two Co-Directors (one will vote as a Director, and one will vote as the University of Alberta’s representative); five representatives from the other universities (with three university board members continuing from Phase Two and three new university representatives); representatives from partnering

organizations/provincial governments (two or more from each province); the Director General, Prairies and Northern Territories Region, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC

representative); plus representatives from each additional federal partner contributing at least $85,000 per year to Metropolis (as they choose); and two ex officio members representing SSHRC and the Metropolis Project Team. In accordance with the MOU, the representation of the federal partners on the Board of Directors has been enhanced. The Board of Governors approves membership of the Data and Adjudication Committees and the selection of Domain Leaders. The academic members of the Board approve potential non-academic Board members before invitations are extended to them. Other Board responsibilities include oversight of the PMC website and the PMC Data Committee and approval of PMC representatives on

committees coordinated by the Metropolis Secretariat in Ottawa.

4. The Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta will oversee the operations of the Administrative Centre. This practice is a change from the Vice-President (Research) in Phases One and Two but is consistent with the trend at the University of Alberta to have all research centres report to a Lead Dean. The Dean of Nursing will have an important supporting role in this process.

5. As in Phase Two, an Executive Committee of the Board will have defined terms of reference and delegated authority (see Internal Agreement in Appendix 3). Under certain conditions, this committee is empowered to act for the Board during periods between meetings. The advantage of an Executive Committee, as compared to the full Board, is the reduction of administrative expenses associated with governance and the ability to take fast action on issues requiring immediate attention. An important function of the Executive Committee is the approval of new research affiliates and community partners.

6. The Domain Research Committee, composed of the Domain Leaders and the Centre Co-Directors, will continue to play a key role in Phase Three. It will develop the Centre’s domain research programs and priorities and monitor the progress of domain research. The role of Domain Leader, to be revised in the Internal Agreement, will mirror the definition and responsibilities outlined in the renewal documents. Terms for Domain Leaders, with the

possibility of one renewal, will not exceed three years. One 3-credit course teaching release per year will be arranged for each Domain Leader through SSHRC and the participating

(15)

- (6) -

of the Co-Directors. The Board of Governors has confirmed all five Domain Leaders for the implementation of Phase Three. While domains have been reconfigured, three Domain Leaders from Phase Two will continue in the initial part of Phase Three.

7. There will be an annual call for proposals for Prairie Metropolis Centre research funding. The Adjudication Committee, chaired by a Centre Co-Director, will be responsible for reviewing and selecting proposals for funding. Centre peer review will conform to SSHRC practices. Adjudication committee members will be drawn from research affiliates from each participating university (one from each), federal partners (one representative), community partners (one representative), and non-Prairie Metropolis Centre researchers (one or two). Adjudication committee members will serve a two-year term and cannot submit proposals during that period. 8. The University of Alberta will be responsible for receiving and distributing funds to

participating universities as approved by the Board of Governors, and will provide accounting and financial reporting to the Centre as required by SSHRC/CIC. Each collaborating institution will provide 1) accounting services in accordance with the Agreement and criteria of the

Sponsors, and 2) ethical reviews of projects involving human subjects in accordance with Tri-Council Guidelines.

9. As outlined in the Agreement, the Consortium arrangement allows for the addition of new investigators and institutions to PMC, and withdrawal of participants from it (voluntary or involuntary; i.e., based on a decision by the Board). Other issues addressed in the Agreement include clarifications regarding ownership of equipment, insurance indemnity, conflict of interest, and dispute resolution. It is important to note that the Agreement allows for major changes. For example, it stipulates that upon the approval of the Board of Governors, any major change that would affect the general mission, research program, approved budgets, or other operations of the Centre must be submitted to the Sponsors for approval prior to

implementation. The Agreement itself may be amended by the Board of Governors subject to the approval of 2/3 of the signatory institutions, followed by the approval of the Sponsors.

II. Research Outputs

In Phase Three of Metropolis, the PMC will support the five domains that best represent the academic expertise within the Centre: Citizenship and Social, Cultural and Civic Integration; Economic and Labour Market Integration; Family, Children and Youth; Housing and

Neighbourhoods; and Welcoming Communities: The Role of Host Communities in Attracting, Integrating and Retaining Newcomers and Minorities. Furthermore, we will continue to support researchers who were identified with the Health and Education Domains in Phase Two, as much of their research is germane to the domains identified above. The PMC does not currently have many academics whose interests are directly aligned with the Justice, Policing, and Security Domain, but we will encourage those who fit this description to work with their counterparts in other Centres, and we will invite key researchers to affiliate with the PMC in order to develop some strength in this area.

Two primary goals of the PMC in Phase Three are to ensure (1) that the research we fund has clear policy implications that are related to the priorities of the federal partners and (2) that those studies reach their intended audience, as well as other interested parties. In order to achieve

(16)

- (7) -

these goals, we will undertake a number of activities (knowledge mobilization will be discussed in section IV). First, we will hold a face-to-face meeting with our Domain Leaders at the beginning of Phase Three to help them develop strategies for working closely with the academics at our six universities. The Centre Co-Directors and Domain Leaders will then convene annually as an adjunct to the Annual Policy Research Symposium (directly following the meeting) to review our progress and to discuss any emerging priorities. The Domain Leaders are charged with establishing direct connections with appropriate federal partners (see Appendix 2 for Domain Leaders’ CVs).

A second change to better address our goals will be to revise the terms of our Call for Proposals. It will be stated in our Call that researchers are required to discuss their applications with an appropriate federal partner at the national level and that the policy relevance of the proposed research will have to be made very clear for the proposal to be considered by the

Adjudication Committee. In Phase Two, there was a restriction on research funded at the level of the Centre, such that 50% had to address a policy area. In Phase Three we will encourage our scholars to focus much more carefully on the policy priorities; the priorities will be available on our website in stand-alone format, rather than buried in the MOU, and the grant application form will indicate clearly (1) that the Adjudication Committee will give preference to applications that address a federal priority and (2) where to locate the priorities. Although the Adjudication Committee will still fund a grant application that is not directly related to a federal priority if it is clearly a superior proposal that meets all the academic requirements and addresses a policy issue, we anticipate that in Phase Three there will be a much higher percentage of funded research that is directly related to the priorities. Also, on the Call for Proposals there will be a statement indicating the importance of pan-Canadian studies to inform policy. Before the first Call for Proposals, we will hold a seminar in each of the participating cities to discuss both the priorities and the need for both pan-Canadian and regional studies. These will be conducted either by Domain Leaders, Board Members, Co-Directors, or any combination of these three. The distribution of research funding across domains will depend on the quality of the proposals submitted to the Annual Competition, in accordance with SSHRC policy. In the past, we reserved funding for domain projects. In Phase Three we will ask the Domain Leaders to identify appropriate cross-domain, interdisciplinary studies that address a priority. We will reserve funding for such projects subject to receipt of high quality policy-relevant proposals. We anticipate considerable overlap of interests across domains and see an opportunity for synergistic studies that can both build theory and contribute to policy and practice needs.

Domain 1: Citizenship and Social, Cultural and Civic Integration

This domain will be led by Dr. Lloyd Wong, University of Calgary. Several of the researchers who were affiliated with the Social and Cultural Domain and the Citizenship and Political Domain in Phase Two will continue their connection with the PMC in this new, expanded domain. Many of the policy research questions that the federal partners have identified for this domain align very well with the interests of our scholars. Several PMC academics conduct research in the area of second language acquisition. For example, one of our researchers plans to explore different models of English in the workplace and the effectiveness of training programs that are directed not only at immigrant employees, but also programs for Canadian-born employers and employees to help improve communication in a workforce that is increasingly diverse.

Current research that is being conducted by three PMC researchers and academics from the Montreal and Atlantic Centres on post-multiculturalism discourses promises to address some of the priority issues in Domain 1. Other researchers within the PMC are interested in the questions of immigrant health outcomes, and have utilized national data sets to focus on issues such as the decline in health status after arrival in Canada.

(17)

- (8) -

Questions about the nature of settlement agencies lend themselves very well to pan-Canadian research. Many of the immigrant service providers on the Prairies and in the Atlantic region are not ethno-specific, and although many have an affiliation with a religious organization, the services they provide are secular and available to immigrants and refugees of all backgrounds. In other parts of Canada there are far more ethno-specific agencies (e.g., Ontario). A comparative study of the efficacy of these models of delivery would be a priority for the PMC, especially since this is an issue that is also of high interest to some of our community partners.

Other researchers in this domain have an interest in social capital and its relationship to integration, civic participation, and citizenship. More specifically, they are interested in the

strategies that can help build social capital in immigrant and ethno-racial communities so that they can adapt and overcome obstacles to economic, social, and political participation. Some specific research questions here include: How is social capital created in ethno-cultural organizations? What variations does social capital take in different types of ethno-cultural organizations? How does the participation of immigrants and ethnic minorities in ethno-cultural organizations lead to civic participation in broad-based non-ethnic organizations and formal political organizations? What types of ethno-cultural organizations facilitate this civic participation the best? What are the organizational and structural factors in broad-based organizations that facilitate or constrain civic participation among immigrants and ethnic minorities (i.e., opportunity structures, networks, structural barriers, cultural differences, etc.)? What strategies and programs can the state develop to encourage civic participation among immigrants?

We also have researchers who are particularly concerned with matters of citizenship; in particular, the role of citizenship courses in helping newcomers to integrate. A comparative study already underway will contrast the situation in Metro Toronto versus smaller centres on the Prairies. In Phase Three we plan to provide the federal government with policy direction in regard to

citizenship education provision.

The phenomenon of transnationalism, which at a very narrow level includes those who have dual or multiple citizenship, is a research interest of some of our current domain affiliates. Here the research questions include: How does the engagement in transnational identity and practice among immigrant and ethnic communities affect their Canadian identity and their active citizenship in Canada? What happens to feelings of attachment and belonging to Canada under conditions of transnationalism and multiculturalism? What is the impact of current Canadian citizenship policy on immigrants in terms of their transnational identities and their sense of belonging to Canada?

Finally, the study of immigrant youth, and their positive and negative attitudes toward Canadian society, has emerged as an important area of research in recent years. The concern in Canada and Britain regarding “home-grown” terrorists and terrorism is important and timely as researchers consider how we can integrate immigrant and ethnic youth to become law-abiding citizens. Thus the issue of criminal involvement of immigrant youth is particularly important and is envisioned as a substantive area of research in this domain. This area of study overlaps with the domains of Family, Children and Youth, and Justice, Policing, and Security. Our researchers who are working in this area will link with other researchers in the latter two domains.

Domain 2: Economic and Labour Market Integration

The contributions of the PMC’s economic domain in Phases One and Two of Metropolis have been well received by the federal funders. This domain will continue to be led by Dr. Peter Li, of the University of Saskatchewan. Using national databases, the team has conducted studies of important relevance for policy. For example, researchers found that factors affecting immigrants’ economic performance vary in degree of relevance and intensity depending on the time-frame used in the analysis, and thus it is not advisable to frame immigrant admission policy based solely on

(18)

short-- (9) short--

term economic performance. Researchers also found that recent immigrants, despite earning less than the native-born in the short term, tend to catch up over time, further suggesting that undue policy emphasis should not be placed on short-term integration. Other research within the domain includes that of Dr. Abdie Kazemipur, who studies how social capital and human capital affect the lives of immigrants. Based on a survey conducted in 14 CMAs, Kazemipur’s findings indicate that the higher the percentage of immigrant population and the level of ethnic diversity at the city level, the higher is the level of general trust of the city. Subject to replication by others, this study

suggests a potential breakthrough in demonstrating the social value of diversity in immigrant integration.

Utilizing census files, Dr. Michael Haan is studying possible socioeconomic penalties attached to immigrants’ city choice, and that the well-documented declines in immigrant labour market performance may be a ‘three city’ phenomenon, rather than a national trend. If his hypothesis is confirmed, it would lend further support to a policy of immigrant regionalization.

In Phase Three the economic and labour market integration domain will continue to use national data sets to study issues of economic integration of immigrants identified as high priority to the federal policy-makers. Specifically, the research questions will focus on the following: First, in addition to human capital, does social capital play a role in helping immigrants to integrate

economically? Does social capital enhance or impede immigrants’ opportunities? Second, what are the factors that explain why some immigrants catch up with the earnings of the native-born and other immigrants fail to do so over the short-term, medium-term, and long-term? Third, does the poverty level of immigrants vary with the size of the city and other urban factors? What factors explain variation of poverty levels among immigrants in different locations? Fourth, what is the relationship between health status and economic performance of immigrants? What are the costs and benefits of immigration to the health care system, and how can they be measured?

Domain 3: Family, Children, and Youth

This domain will be headed by Dr. Anna Kirova, formerly the Education Domain leader in the PMC. Questions of identity and attachment to Canada in the immigrant and refugee youth population are of interest to several of our researchers, as well as the role that schools and other institutions play in shaping identity. In an earlier PMC funded study, two of our researchers determined, using national data sets, that the educational aspirations of immigrant youth are significantly higher than those of Canadian-born students; follow-up studies will attempt to determine what causes the differences and why it is that despite higher aspirations, immigrant children and youth often have less successful outcomes than native speakers of an official language, as has been shown in Phase Two research. Why too, is it that individuals who are born in Canada but who do not learn English or French until they get to school tend to do less well than immigrant students?

Some of our researchers are involved with local strategies that may have national implications. For example, in Calgary, the Immigrant Children and Youth Strategy is a

multisectoral committee (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, provincial government departments, school boards, police, immigrant serving organizations, Calgary health region, among others) that will develop plans to meet the needs and issues faced by immigrant children and youth.

Documentation of the activities of this strategy and their outcomes will be extremely useful information for policy-makers and practitioners across the country.

In Phases One and Two, PMC scholars undertook several studies of immigrant seniors. Research in Phase Three will explore ways in which social isolation can be mitigated. In addition, the changing face of nursing homes and the challenges of having residents who do not speak either official language will be addressed.

(19)

- (10) -

Twelve PMC researchers from Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton are involved in the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS), a six-city longitudinal survey of the health,

development, and well-being of immigrant and refugee children. More than 2,000 children and their families from 16 ethno-cultural communities are enrolled in the study nationally and Wave Two data collection from 6 ethno-cultural communities is currently in progress in the prairies. This is a rich data set from which analysis of Wave One data is just beginning. Prairie researchers are examining family factors associated with school outcomes, gender differences in relation to parenting practices, parenting styles and practices within ethno-cultural communities and their relationships to mental health, and experiences of bullying and discrimination.

The research team in Edmonton, including a researcher from Calgary, is focusing on the family data to build and test theory about parenting and family functioning in newcomer

communities. Community consultation has been a strong feature of this study since its inception. In Edmonton, for example, representatives from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canadian Heritage, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Alberta Health, Alberta Advanced Education, City of Edmonton, and Capital Health, as well as three immigrant-serving agencies and members from the six ethno-cultural communities, participate in the advisory committee structure and there is strong interest in applying the findings in practice and in program development. The longitudinal data will allow the exploration of changes over time and there are plans to supplement the quantitative data with qualitative projects focused on key issues identified through the survey. Key questions include: How do family dynamics and parenting practices change after immigration? Can newcomer children, youth, and families at particular risk be identified so that early intervention can be initiated? Are there policies or programs that could help children and families make the adjustment to a new culture more readily?

Domain 4: Housing and Neighbourhoods

This new domain for the PMC will be headed by Dr. Tom Carter of the University of Winnipeg, the Canada Research Chair in Urban Change and Adaptation. Immigrant housing and neighbourhood issues emerged as an important consideration in Phase Two, and the PMC has funded ongoing research to conduct a comparative study of refugee housing situations in Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg, the ultimate goal of which is to recommend policies and programs necessary to improve the housing circumstances of refugees. This research will be expanded upon in Phase Three. Because of the economic boom in Alberta, housing is at a premium; what responsibilities do employers have to ensure that their employees have secure housing? What features of community readiness lead to the successful integration of newcomers into a neighbourhood? As immigrants increasingly settle in smaller communities, what challenges do they face and are these challenges distinct from those of immigrants to larger cities? What are the social implications of the

introduction of diversity into heretofore relatively homogeneous populations? These issues are not restricted to Alberta. The Provincial Nominee Program in Manitoba has resulted in a significant increase in newcomers to the province. There were 10,000 new arrivals in 2006, almost 7000 of whom entered under the Provincial Nominee Program. This has placed considerable pressure on all levels of the housing market in Winnipeg as well as many smaller centres in rural areas. Research is needed to suggest how adequate, affordable housing can be made available, given that it is so vital to successful integration. We know that smaller communities in British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces, as well as second and third tier cities in Ontario and Quebec, are also interested in increasing the numbers of newcomers, but they will undergo similar pressures in terms of housing and neighbourhoods, so these issues are of national import. The PMC is anxious to attract new scholars into this domain; in addition, we see considerable overlap with Domain 5, and

(20)

- (11) -

Domain 5: Welcoming Communities: The Role of Host Communities in Attracting, Integrating and Retaining Newcomers and Minorities

This new domain will be headed by Dr. Darren Lund of the University of Calgary. Dr. Lund is well known for his work on anti-racism education and social justice. The Welcoming Communities domain is one that fits very well with the interests of several PMC researchers; indeed, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has contracted the PMC to conduct significant studies of attraction and retention that have influenced policy. The Settlement Experiences of Refugees in Alberta was welcomed by CIC as a study that directly informed destining policy. Most recently, the attraction and retention study carried out with regard to the City of Edmonton has resulted in several policy changes and budget allocations for the enhancement of services for immigrants in that municipality. Another PMC researcher is carrying out similar work in Saskatoon. Two PMC researchers have been invited to make international comparisons of Canadian contexts with Australian and New Zealand settings on the topic of attraction and retention. There is a very strong interest on the part of our community partners as well as provincial governments for more work in this area; we see attraction and retention as research topics for which we can leverage additional funding. The practicalities of bringing newcomers to a given location and keeping them there are obvious.

Dr. Lund has received national funding to plan a Centre for Social Justice Research and Education. The work of this centre will be interdisciplinary, and will engage scholars, community and policy-makers. PMC researchers will be involved with this Centre, which will address some of the concerns identified in the Metropolis plans for Phase Three, across at least three domains.

III. Training (Role of Students)

During the past 11 years, the PMC has created research and training opportunities for a large number of graduate students at the Masters and Ph.D. levels. Many of these students have now graduated and are either in professorial positions in academic institutions, where their interest in immigration and integration research continues, or in Metropolis-related research units in provincial or federal departments. In 2001 the Centre funded four graduate students at the University of

Alberta to conduct a survey among their peers throughout the prairie region evaluating their work and research experience at their respective Nodes. Recommendations to increase awareness of Metropolis and of the Prairie Metropolis Centre’s services and activities and to develop strategies to improve students’ professional development were discussed among Centre researchers. A total of 54 graduate students are now on the Prairie Metropolis Centre mailing list and the number of students supported to attend annual national Metropolis conferences increased in Phase Two.

The Prairie Metropolis Centre will build on this success, and will continue to provide an intellectually stimulating environment and training opportunities for both graduate and

undergraduate students (who are sometimes recruited as research assistants). These opportunities include but are not limited to (a) direct research experience (in problem formulation, construction of questionnaires, interviewing, data analysis), (b) co-authorship on articles, conference presentations, and research monographs, (c) use of databases for Master’s and Ph.D. theses, and (d) travel grants to Metropolis conferences.

In the third phase of Metropolis, a substantive portion of the Centre’s budget will be used to fund graduate students in the disciplines encompassed by the Centre. Judging from past experience, it is also likely that the PMC’s work will inspire academic departments in the Consortium

(21)

- (12) -

Universities to use their budgets to assign graduate research assistants to professors involved in Metropolis research.

In addition, the Centre will continue to provide space and access to its facilities and

resources to graduate research assistants, and also to exchange students, Postdoctoral Fellows, and visiting scholars involved in immigration research. In Phase One, the Prairie Metropolis Centre sponsored a “Practitioner in Residence” position. We will do so again if the opportunity arises. In Phase Two, the Centre created a “Junior Research Scholar” position for a Ph.D. student. This was a mutually beneficial initiative that we anticipate will continue.

The Centre will continue to provide opportunities for undergraduate students, particularly at the University of Alberta where the Administrative Centre is located, and also in other prairie universities, to acquire research skills and work experience via the Volunteer Internship Program. This highly successful program provides students with opportunities to learn first-hand about immigration and integration issues through placements in immigrant-serving agencies and other partnering organizations.

Finally, as recommended during consultation with Centre research affiliates in 2006, there will be enhanced efforts to build research capacity in community partner organizations through collaborative research and knowledge transfer activities. Building such capacity is important not only for the generation of new knowledge but also for increasing absorptive capacity for utilization of research findings for policy and practice by government and NGO partners.

IV. Communication of Results

To inform policy decisions, and ultimately improve the lives of immigrants, it is crucial that knowledge mobilization regarding the Centre’s activities, research agenda, and research findings takes place such that policy-makers, practitioners, community organizations, scholars and the general public are all included. In meetings with research affiliates at the University of Alberta and the Adjudication Committee about renewal, both groups identified knowledge transfer as a critical element that must be enhanced in Phase Three. The MOU guiding Metropolis also mandates increased attention to knowledge transfer and uptake, particularly through the creation of Priority Leader positions and strengthened articulation of the roles and responsibilities of Domain Leaders, Centre Directors and Federal Partners.

Academic Communication

Within the academic community, results of PMC funded studies will be disseminated in traditional ways, such as conference presentations, working papers on the PMC web site, academic journals, book chapters, monographs and books. A major commitment of the PMC has been the editing of the Journal of International Migration and Integration (JIMI), a refereed, bilingual international journal. Not only is the editor a PMC affiliate and Domain Leader (Dr. Peter Li), but the day-to-day management of the journal is done in the offices of the PMC. Furthermore, the new Book Review Editor, Dr. Marian Rossiter, is also a PMC affiliate from the University of Alberta. JIMI was just recently purchased from Transaction Publishers by Springer, a much larger publishing firm. Springer has assured the editorial office that JIMI is viewed as a high potential journal targeted for expansion because until now, the company did not have a journal dealing with international migration. In the meantime, JIMI has become a highly respected journal in the field. Furthermore, there have been several special issues of JIMI in response to requests from federal partners; each has a guest policy editor. Early in Phase Three, for example, special issues will appear on the

(22)

- (13) -

following topics: Immigration, Race and Criminal Justice; Foreign Training and Work Experience: Skilled Immigrants’ Perspectives; Regionalization of Immigration in Host Nations of the Western World. (It should also be pointed out that there have been several special issues of other refereed journals that have focused on Metropolis topics, including Canadian Ethnic Studies and The Canadian Journal of Urban Research.) The editor of JIMI has agreed to identify submitted manuscripts that would be appropriate for the PMC working paper series. The author(s) will be encouraged to submit the initial manuscript to the working paper series while the article is under review at JIMI. Graduate students will also be encouraged to publish in the series; in the past we have not targeted this group.

In the university setting, the goal of research mobilization will also be realized through training of graduate students and the offering of specialized courses on Metropolis-related topics, and through colloquia, university classes and seminars within and outside the home institutions. It is anticipated that raising the profile of immigration-related issues and research will have an impact on curricula in many disciplines represented within Metropolis.

Policy-Makers, Practitioners and Other People for Whom the Results are Important

Outside the academic community, we will encourage a number of different knowledge transfer methods. For practitioners, who often provide important support or access to research populations, we will continue to offer monthly Brown Bag speaking series in Edmonton and Winnipeg, and will endeavour to start similar series in our other participating cities. These sessions are also well attended by local government representatives (both provincial and municipal). It is often the case that researchers hold individual seminars for the practitioners with whom they worked most closely to report the results of their studies, and we anticipate that these activities will continue.

We will continue to post research reports on our website, but we will have a new location on the web where two-three page summaries of all PMC funded research, written in a style accessible to lay persons, will be posted with links to the Virtual Library. This site will be highlighted so that it is readily accessible to visitors. An electronic newsletter will be sent to policy-makers,

community partners, and research affiliates on a bi-monthly basis; it will also appear on the PMC website.

More federal policy-makers will serve on the PMC board, which will enhance our contact with them, but we will also invite a broader range of policy-makers to our annual Policy Research Symposium, where we will combine the presentation of research results with planning for the upcoming year. We will alternate cities for the planning meetings to include more representatives of regional federal government offices, provincial governments, and local community organizations. We will invite local MPs to attend or to send representatives from their offices as well, to heighten awareness of the Metropolis Project. We will also encourage our researchers to either invite appropriate policy-makers to their presentations or to send them updates on their work; the PMC will provide support to researchers in helping them identify policy-makers who would be interested in their findings.

The PMC will host the National Metropolis Conference in 2009. This will be the third national conference we have organized, and we will ensure that there is a strong program that brings together researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, and representatives of immigrant groups. We will continue to support our academic affiliates, their students, and community partners to attend other national Metropolis conferences; we will also continue to send some of our community partners to International Metropolis Conferences, using funds from a University of Alberta grant to the PMC.

Because technology has advanced so quickly in the past few years, the PMC will explore the possibility of virtual conferences with selected policy analysts and affiliated researchers on specific

(23)

- (14) -

topics. Simulated face-to-face discussions using iChat, Skype, Elluminate, or other similar programs will be used. We will encourage Domain Leaders to connect in a similar fashion with their counterparts in other Centres and with the affiliated researchers in their own domains.

In Phase Two, we introduced node conferences, which were highly successful events, but which were relatively infrequent. In Phase Three, we will implement a Metropolis Caravan, in which we will identify various affiliates from the participating universities and send them on tour to each of the prairie cities. Each Caravan Tour will have a designated theme that may be tied to a policy priority. We may also involve researchers from other centres. When the Caravan is

scheduled for a given city, we will also organize local speakers and will invite local government and community partner representatives, as well as students and affiliated researchers, to participate. We hope to do this at least once a year throughout the course of Phase Three, for a total of 25 node meetings (five cities per tour). In addition, if funding is available, a synthesis document of all PMC research across the three Phases of Metropolis will be prepared for policy-makers.

VI. Evaluation Framework

The evaluation framework for Phase Three of the Prairie Metropolis Centre is being developed in response to the delineation of the anticipated immediate and intermediate outcomes outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The assessment tools and requirements developed for the Phase Two Mid-Term Review and CIC-SSHRC Joint Evaluation will be revised as needed then used for the PMC Annual Reports. When possible, information will be grouped according to federal policy-research priorities. Evaluation will include quantitative and qualitative assessment strategies and will focus on the key areas of governance, training, academic research, knowledge transfer and mobilization, community and NGO capacity, networking, and budget. Annual assessments of outputs will facilitate evaluation of the growth in Centre activities and productivity. This will allow the Metropolis Evaluation Committee to track PMC contributions to achievement of outcomes related to research capacity, policy, and practice both regionally and nationally. Quality is more difficult to assess but will be reflected in refereed publications, requests to participate in contract research, and ongoing commitment and involvement of accomplished academic research affiliates and community and government partners.

Governance - Assessment of governance will include criteria related to incumbents’ commitment to roles and responsibilities as measured by participation and adherence to reporting requests; turnover of Board members, Domain Leaders, and Adjudication Committee members in relation to

appointment and renewal terms; feedback from Domain Leaders in terms of supports available, roles, and responsibilities; Centre staff retention and satisfaction; Adjudication Committee members’ satisfaction with proposal review and decision-making processes; and presence,

resolution, or absence of conflict. The table related to staff included in the MOU will be completed annually.

Training - Training outputs measured will include the quantitative information requested in the tables related to students in the MOU (level of student, policy priority, thesis or dissertation

research, other participation in research or centre activities, whether paid or unpaid). The number of students employed as Centre staff, receiving travel grants to Metropolis conferences, attending dissemination events, and engaging in the Volunteer Internship Program will be tracked, as will the number of students on the Centre mailing list. A qualitative exit interview will be held with students

(24)

- (15) -

participating in the Volunteer Internship Program and with supervisors at the participating community agencies as a means of assessing and improving such opportunities. Disciplines of students involved in Centre activities will also be tracked, as will employment or further educational endeavours after completion of degrees attained in their initial contact with the Centre wherever possible.

Academic Research - The draft template for research outputs (or its equivalent) included in the MOU will be completed for all projects funded by the PMC. The number of proposals submitted and the number funded in each priority research area in the annual Centre call for research proposals will be tracked, as will the number of resubmissions (responding to adjudication

committee feedback) and their success. Prairie Metropolis Centre research affiliate leadership or co-investigator participation in national Metropolis research competitions and in contract research with federal and other partners will be monitored. Funds leveraged from other sources for research or the extension of research originally funded by PMC will be reported, as will presentations, publications and other scholarly pursuits such as working papers or media events/products related to the

research.

Knowledge Transfer and Mobilization - The draft templates for publications and knowledge dissemination (or their equivalents) included in the MOU will be completed annually to document PMC research affiliates’ publications, presentations, and participation in consultations or other meetings related to Metropolis interests. In addition, events hosted or co-hosted by the PMC to disseminate research findings; website innovations and hits; media interest in Centre research; and other dissemination activities will be monitored. Consistent with research affiliates’ suggestions near the end of Phase Two, there will be a focus on bridging smaller qualitative studies with existing statistical databases. The success of this approach for enhancing policy relevance and uptake of research findings will be assessed. Connections and collaborations with policy-makers at all levels of government and with practitioners will be reported. An important mechanism for knowledge transfer and mobilization in Phase Three will be the Priority Leaders for each Domain. A means will be developed to assess the contributions that Priority Leaders are making to

achievement of the goals of the PMC, as well as the contributions that the PMC is making to the overall success of the Priority Leaders’ roles and responsibilities.

Communities and NGO Capacity Activities - Community and NGO participation in Centre

governance, Centre dissemination activities, Metropolis conferences, and other Centre activities will be tracked, as will Centre participation in community and NGO events and activities. Such

participation may include membership on Boards, speaking at events, attending events, providing consultation, and co-sponsoring activities. More importantly, researcher collaboration with NGO and community partners, including government partners, in presentations, workshops, and research projects will be tracked. Whether such activities were academic or community-initiated will be reported. Collaborative activities have the potential to build capacity in all partners and are encouraged.

Network Activities - The success of network activities can be partially assessed in the data collected regarding other key areas within the evaluation framework. In addition, requests for Centre Co-Directors or research affiliates to participate on national or international boards or in national or international roundtables, conferences, workshops, research projects, etc. related to Metropolis goals and activities will be tracked. Research affiliates will be asked to report such networking outcomes on an annual basis.

(25)

- (16) -

Budget - Financial management and reporting practices mandated by SSHRC and participating universities will be followed and annual expenditures reconciled with annual budgetary forecasts. Leveraged funds for research projects receiving partial funding in Centre research competitions will be reported, as will funds that are raised outside of the SSHRC/CIC grant to support Centre

activities and spin-off research projects.

Overall Evaluation – The PMC Co-Directors will ensure that the Evaluation Committee receives timely, accurate and comprehensive reports from which progress toward achievement of outcomes, and ultimately impacts, can be assessed. Policy and practice uptake of PMC research and, where feasible in the time available, assessment of the effectiveness of subsequent policy changes and practice interventions through further research will be reported. Such research may build on changes already made in response to the research conducted in the first two phases of Metropolis.

APPLICATION TO SSHRC FOR A RENEWAL GRANT. for the